File Sharing
The issue of file sharing is a hot one right now. There are lots of things happening that are changing the way file sharing is done. Basicly I'm going to go on a little rant here and then give some suggestions on how you can help yourself and help others with sharing.
First off, I want to state my opinion about the current things happening with music sharing. I think the idea that buying music legaly online is a good one. I'm not one that says this easily as I do feel that many artists make way too much money. Radio and MTV make the music market and make the artists that they want mainstream. There are bands out there that are putting out really awesome music but you will never hear them by listening to the radio or watching music television. If you want an example of this look at the Darkness, or look at recent singles released by R.E.M. and Radiohead. With the exception of Bad Day you probably wouldn't even know they had new songs.
Back to online music sales. I think that if I have the choice of paying a small amount for music online and doing it legaly vs doing it illegally and getting a possible lawsuit I would have to go with the legal way. HOWEVER, 99 cent per mp3 is outragiously expensive. That is roughly the same price if not more expensive than what you are paying if you were going to purchase a cd. Also, an mp3 download has no where near the quality sound that a cd has. And of course, none of the pretty artwork. Not to mention you have to pay for the cost of the blank cd and case.
Quality does matter! One thing that I am enjoying alot right now is DVD quality audio. 5.1 or 6.1 surround sounds is amazingly better than sterio cd quality and worlds better than mp3s. I think a major thing that would help music sales all around would be the standardization of DVD audio capable cd players. Even on headseats this would be a great feature so that you could buy DVD audio disks and use them anywhere you go. 5.1 surround sound stereo headphones are even being made now (available here). Mp3s are nice but when I can sit and listen to great jams in 360deg surround sound, oh, it's that much better. If the costs come down this may be the best way to eventually beat out mp3s.
So you may be asking, what do I do since DVD audio isn't very standard, I don't want to buy mp3s for 99c a peice, and I enjoy finding new music and don't want to buy a cd to find out if I like it or not? Well, I've been doing one thing that I hope more people will start participating in. This is the Song of the week. This usually is a good suggestion of a song that would be worth checking out by a band that is pretty good. Now that I put a description with the song of the week here you can get even more of a idea before checking it out.
What about file sharing? Well, you can still go with some file sharing programs out there such as Overnet. Another idea is probably one of the most underused and best ways to do p2p sharing. AIM. Yes, I said AIM. A while back AIM began allowing file sharing between users. I have files shared to users who are on my buddy list. I also have buddys on my list who do the same thing. Yes, I know that selection is limited to what the user chooses to have on his or her system. But hey, it's a good, private way to pass around files. If more people start doing this, more and more files will circulate. If you would like to know more about this feel free to ask.
I realize that this has been a long post and that if you got this far you're probably pretty bored. Thanks for reading my opinions and please return to read future messages. I hope that something I've said in this post or in another has helped you in some way. Till next time...